Imperial German General Georg Wichura commanded the VIII. Reserve
Corps during the Great War. By 1912, Generalleutnant Wichura was
at the head of 5th Infantry Division, headquartered in Frankurt a.d.
Oder. As Germany marched into Belgium, he lead this group of soldiers
into battle in support of General von Lochow's III. Army Corps and von
Kluck's First Army. During the war, he saw action at Mons and Le
Cateau (1914). Following the First Battle of the Marne, 5th
Division covered both II. and III. Army Corps as those troops fell back
across the River Aisne and the fighting settled into the
trenches.

Generalleutnant Wichura's division fought in battles at Soissons
(1915) and at Champagne and Verdun
(1916), after which they were able to leave the Front for a month's
worth of R and R. They returned to the trenches in the summer of 1916 in
time to be engaged in the deadly Battle of the Somme. Returning
to the Champagne region in early September, he was given command of VIII. Reserve Corps,
subordinate to Seventh Army. In the Spring of 1917, followoing promotion
to General der Infanterie, Wichura was awarded the Pour le Merite for
distinguished service and leadership as his reservists fought the British at Arras.
The VIII. Reserves additionally saw action during hostilities at Chemin
des Dames, Coucy-le-Chateau, and the heights above Conde,
earning him the additional oak leaves to his PLM.

Wichura's reservists additionally fought during the SecondMarne campaign
in July 1918, which earned the general the Order of the Red Eagle (Roter
Adlerorden I. Klasse). Wichura was given command of
the V. Army Corps in 1919. After leading his troops back to Germany for
demobilization, Wichura was selected to command V. Army Corps,
headquartered in Posen. He retired from military service in September
1919. General Wichura, who was married to Ellinoe Elisabeth von
Langenn-Steinkeller, passed away in 1923. A street in Berlin was named
after him in 1937.